Changing Patterns of Global Migration & Remittances

By an IPS Correspondent Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 20 2013 (IPS) - A growing number of international migrants now live in high-income countries such as the United States and Germany, while a growing share was born in today’s middle-income nations such as India and Mexico, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of data from the United Nations and the World Bank.

An estimated 160 million, or 69%, of international migrants now live in high-income countries (nations with an average per capita income of $12,616 or higher), up from 87 million, or 57%, in 1990. These high-income countries, many of them in North America and Europe, may appear increasingly attractive to modern migrants, whose principal reason for moving is to pursue economic opportunity.

About six-in-ten (135 million) of today’s international migrants were born in middle-income countries (nations with an average per capita income between $1,036 and $12,615), compared with fewer than half (74 million) of all migrants in 1990. Over the same period, the share of immigrants born in high- as well as low-income nations has declined, according to the analysis.

These shifts occurred as the total number of international migrants rose from 154 million in 1990 to 232 million in 2013 – but remained steady as a 3% share of the globe’s growing population.

Once they move across borders, many migrants send money, known as remittances, back to families in their countries of origin. Despite a marked dip during the 2009 global recession, the overall annual flow of such remittances has nearly tripled since 2000 and now tops $500 billion.

And the rise in emigrants from middle-income countries has been accompanied by an increase in the flows of remittances back to middle-income countries. The share of worldwide remittances received by today’s middle-income countries has risen to an estimated 71% in 2013 from 57% in 2000. The share to low-income nations has doubled, while remaining a small proportion of the total – 6% in 2013 compared with 3% in 2000. The share to high-income nations has declined, to 23% in 2013 from 40% in 2000.

Between 1990 and 2013, the U.S. increased its share of the world’s migrants and remained the largest destination country by far. One-in-five (46 million) of the world’s migrants now live in the U.S., compared with slightly less than one-in-six (23 million) in 1990.

Even with this growth, the foreign born as a share of the total population is still considerably lower in the U.S. than in a number of other major destination nations. About 14% of the U.S. population in 2013 was foreign born, a smaller share than in Australia (28%) and Canada (21%), and significantly less than in some countries in the Persian Gulf, where the vast majorities of their populations are foreign-born workers, according to the press release.

The regional origins of U.S. immigrants have become more concentrated over time. In 2013, 55% of all foreign-born people living in the U.S. were born in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was about 47% in 1990. The report also includes analysis of the changing geography of migrants’ residences and countries of origin.